Alright I don't really post on the social forums but this is a subject that interests me and I've had enough study for today so...
I've been through a lot of internet communities. Starting when I was about 14 I started playing muds and other online games and interacting through IRC and bulletin boards...when I quit playing muds I had about 180 days logged on, plus countless hours more surfing boards and shit. I met many people in person that I met online, often travelling interstate to do so. I've also lurked on many different boards, rarely coming out to post, and I only post on the drug discussion boards here because of my own desire for safer drug use for myself and others. While there are hordes of people more experienced than me, I still like to say that I've "been through the internet and come out the other side."
Whether you like it or not, your behaviour online is different. The internet is an *environment* and the norms of the environment in which you are interacting always influence the way you behave. This is on one level through what the environment is actually like (in the case of bluelight, the standard internet text + emoticons). But on another level it's because of the people who inhabit an environment. I generally use correct grammar, capitals, spelling and so forth. I do that because in the internet communities that I first started in, that was a sign of intelligence, and anyone who said "lol", "stfu" or "wtf" was ridiculed as an idiot. Compare that to other internet communities you might encounter where "omg wtf bbq ur mom = asshat" is the calibre of conversation you should expect.
Some people are exactly the same online...most aren't, though they might not admit it. I am generally much less articulate in person because of how easy it is to revise your comments when you're using text. As a way of coping with the anxiety produced by meeting new people, I can sometimes combine this with trying to be too outgoing/amusing, which goes well sometimes, and sometimes just makes me look like a dick.
Because of the nature of my personality and the amount of experience I've had with the internet, online I feel I am more successful in projecting the image of the ideal me. I can be intelligent, articulate and well spoken and well versed on whatever issue I want because the internet is right there for me to research whatever people are discussing, and you don't trip over your own words when you type. This doesn't mean that I'm a social retard in person, but that my internet persona allows different avenues of expression for me.
I'm sure a lot of people will agree with me when I say that after a while you can sense the personality behind the text. Emoticons and the way they are used mean more and more as you use the internet more, so does spelling, grammar, punctuation, slang...all of these things, once you've met enough people online and compared them to how they act in person, allow you to construct what someone is likely to be like if you have enough knowledge of the online context in which you met them. But because the internet, and bluelight, are *social environments* that are different to real life, you can never be sure. People don't usually go out of their way to be fake, but the social context that they're in means that they must learn how to interact in a way acceptable to their context or they won't get successful, positive interactions that make them want to interact in the community more.